I am a new member here and here is my first post. I live in Taiwan now so my A4 Avant is a EDM version instead of USDM.
These are the pictures of the car before taking delivery.
These are the pictures of the car after taking delivery, The original heavy-ass wheels size 18 x 8J ET47 (14kg, or around 30lbs/ea!!) were replaced with a set of 19 x 8.5J ET36 Rays Homura 2x8 GTS (9.7kg, or around 21.4lbs/ea!!)
The difference between a USDM and a EDM B8.5?
The biggest difference: its an Avant.....AVANT.....AVANT!!!!!
The second difference: it has a 7-speed S-Tronic Dual Clutch (DL501) rather USDM's ZF8HP slushbox automatic.
The third difference: It has a true EA888 Gen III (CNCD) engine, same generation as USDM B9 with port+direct injection, new water cooled turbo exhaust manifold and reduced propensity to eat oil. But EDM B8.5 has had this new engine since MY2014 while the USDM B8.5s all have EA888 Gen II.
From behind the wheel I can definitely understand why for USDM model AUDI had decided to go for a true automatic, as the dual clutch and engine combo isn't totally smooth in stop-and-go traffic with engine logging along at 1,200rpm (I usually drive in sport mode to avoid this, MPG be damned!), but this thing is lightening fast "and" butter smooth on up-shifts once the vehicle gathers speed so its a happy compromise
Okey...so why do I want to install Alu Kreuz? It costs $480 or so with taxes and new stretch bolts, which is quite hefty considering its just a piece of (beautifully made!!) of aluminum alloy?
Well, I bought my Audi A4 car-unseen and without test drive because after seeing a B9 in the pictures and also in flesh, I thought that the end-of-life B8.5 Avant still looks better, has a sexier silhouette and a nicer-looking ass (arse)!.
And the fact that Audi Taiwan decided to increase the B9 Quattro Avant's base price from 80K USD for B8.5 to more than 95K USD for B9
(hey somebody's gonna help VW repay that USD $12 billion diesel-gate penalty right?....Ouch!!!)So and without test drive, I snapped up the 2nd-to-last B8.5 Quattro wagon still available in the country, expecting that the car would at least match my Subaru in handling....but guess what? it was not the case....
Well, Some of you may disagree, but I must admit that my previous vehicle, an Euro-Spec Subaru Outback 3.0R with JDM Legacy Spec B suspension swap and Koni Yellows, handles better than my brand new B8.5 Quattro..... In fact, my Subaru handled better than E34/E46 BMWs my family used to own (don't get me started with the late model F30/F10 BMWs, they drove like Toyota Camry with RWD)
Compared to Subaru's lovely hydraulic steering (really similar to older BMW's steering in feel) the steering on my B8.5 felt half-dead (only because BMW's 3-series with M-Sport Package I actually test drove was even worse) and the front-end body structure feels flexy (Surprise! Surprise!), My Subaru's front structure was so stiff that I actually bought a strut tower brace, only to remove it after feeling no change was made by it (so why add the dead weight?)
My B8.5, even when brand new, would squeak and groan when I pull out of my parking space (I park 6 floors under ground, with spiraling ramps, typical in small Asian countries) while my already 9 year old Subaru with 107K km (~65K) miles on does not.
In Audi's defense, the Subaru does feels more flexy than B8.5 on the back end, but that doesn't bother me nearly as much as I would not be hearing the groaning and squeak coming from the trunk while sitting in the driver's seat.
And when I put these beautiful Rays 19 inch wheels to the B8.5, despite being much lighter, have also introduced some (noticeable but still tolerable) ride harshness to the vehicle, so I started looking for ways to stiffen up the front end.
My first target as a strut tower brace, but after finding out that B8.5 actually had some of the strut tower mounting attachment threaded studs removed, a standard strut tower brace available from Ultra Racing or CUSCO, designed for earlier B8 models, suddenly become a none option (until I found out about the CR15)
Then I read about the Alu Kreuz...At first I balked at that price, but eventually I became more and more curious after reading many...many...many...positive reviews..although there were indeed a couple of so so or not so positive reviews out there, but these were far out-numbered by the positive ones.
One of the so so review came from an S4 owner who thought the difference Alu Kreuz made to his S4 wasn't very much. I think this is understandable because S4s are equipped with a much stronger and beefier lower brace from the factory compared to what regular A4s receive, so the affect of adding the Alu Kreuz is probably less pronounced on a S4 than that it would have made to an A4.
Anyway, I decided to take the plunge, bought an Alu Kreuz for B8.5 plus stretch bolts, stuffed them into my luggage and hauled it back to Taiwan on my flight back home.
Eurocode ensured me that their unit will fit EDM car as long as they are left hand drive, and they were right!
My mechanic had no issue at all during installation and the whole process took less than 30 min.
The result:
Bad things go first:
-It hides underneath the vehicle once installed, and can not be seen again...what a pity!
-I don't know what to do with the original brace, after 2 months and 600 miles, this thing already starts to show rust!
-Not much difference in steering feel change at low speeds, I don't find that troublesome, but its a fact that my Subaru's steering felt better still at low speeds.
Good things:
-Better road feel at speeds above 60km/h (or above 40mp/h), I can actually feel the tires slipping over steel expansion joints while driving on a damp highway on/off ramp.
-Noticeable reduction of steering adjustments at highway speeds and over bumpy roads.
-Almost eliminated groan and squeaks when going over steep drive ways and parking lot ramps at low speeds.
The Surprise!!!
-Better ride comfort and refinement!!! The vehicle rides better on 19 wheels than what it had been when it was still rolling on stock 18 wheels without Alu Kreuz, Alu Kreuz actually reduced ride harshness and made the vehicle felt like it is actually worth 80K USD now!!
So Alu Kreuz basically does what it was advertised to do, plus more!! To me its money well spent and I thank Eurocode for making my car feel and drive much better for less than USD $500.
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Originally Posted by shonseb
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